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14-year-old Josie Peterson on way to MLB’s All-Star Game July 14 in Minn.

Written by Jan Schultz

It’s a feat no one from Chase County, Neb., has accomplished. It’s only the fifth time for a Nebraska youth.

Josie Peterson, 14, of Imperial, Neb., has qualified for the national Major League Baseball Pitch, Hit & Run finals and will compete July 14 against two others in her age group during the MLB All-Star Game activities.

For a young lady who’s played ball since about 5 years of age, she sported a lot of smiles talking about it.

Josie Peterson of Imperial, Neb., is one of 24 national finalists for the Pitch, Hit & Run competition during Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game activities. Her trek to the top started in the local contest sponsored by the Imperial Jaycees at Schroeder Park. —Imperial Republican photo

According to MLB, these 24 finalists advanced to nationals from about 625,000 youths originally in more than 4,000 local competitions.

After a fourth time at the Rockies Team Championship June 21 in Denver, where she won her division, Peterson and her family learned she made the cut for nationals.

Her appearance in Denver came after she also took first at the local PHR contest May 4 and sectionals in York, Neb., May 31.

The 24 national finalists were announced live Sunday, June 29, on MLB Tonight on the MLB Network.

“I just sat there and looked at it,” Peterson said Monday.

That was amidst a lot of screaming and yelling, she said, from about a dozen family members who gathered at her aunt Tracy Beverly’s office in Imperial for the broadcast.

She said she just stared at her name on the screen.

“I never did hear my name on TV because of all the screaming,” she smiled.

The national PHR competition July 14 comes during the second day of the All-Star Game activities at Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis, Minn.